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The opioid epidemic has become the pressing public health crisis of this generation with the same devastating effect as the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, said a health expert
. Heroin and fentanyl have been discovered in the Lowell-Lawrence area, as reported by the Herald earlier this week.
According to Carl Sciortino, executive director of the AIDS Action Committee of Mbadachusetts, which merged with Fenway Health,
and more than 2,000 people died of opioid overdose last year is an "epidemic" in the Wrong direction. "We do not get everyone on the streets … and we do not do enough to keep them alive," said Sciortino yesterday. "We are already losing a generation."
He compared the scourge of drugs to the AIDS epidemic of the early 1980s, which was also hampered by a "stigma" – the same negativity that plagues the opioid crisis. But just like AIDS, drug addiction strikes the suburbs and the city.
"Our best prevention efforts are not adapted to the magnitude of the crisis we are currently seeing," said Sciortino, a former state representative for Somerville and Medford. "We are making great progress on the edges … but we do not reach everyone."
He also highlighted the news this week that an alarming spike in HIV cases among drug users grouped in Lowell and Lawrence has health experts warning Boston could be next.
The State of Public Health Report shows an epidemic of HIV cases in the towns of the Merrimack Valley and surrounding communities. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contributed to the study that found 129 HIV-infected intravenous drug users in the Lowell-Lawrence area since 2015. This represents an additional 11 cases in the United States. same region in 2014.
Concerned about the opioid crisis, the HIV epidemic is perceived as an urgent threat among public health providers.
Sciortino said that an average of six people die each day in the Bay State because of ODs on opiates
. Matthew Mostofi, deputy chief of the emergency department at Tufts Medical Center, said the message was yet to be aired about the dangers of needle sharing and all things related to drug injection
. "He said." It's a marginalized community. "
" But we're proactive in trying to identify these people, "he added.
He also drew parallels with the AIDS epidemic of the 80s, but pointed out that the homobadual community was "highly educated and embraced HIV prevention."
This is not the case with the epidemic of HIV. opiates.
There is no quick cure, say health experts.
This week, the report of the state's opiate cluster called for needle exchanges – which started at Lowell and Lawrence – with more screening, treatment and education, in addition to naloxone to reverse.As for Boston, the number of overdoses is rising spectacular, but officials claim that they have not yet detected a significant increase in HIV cases caused by the use of Intravenous Drugs.
In Boston and in the state, HIV / AIDS The caseload had dropped, making Lowell and Lawrence a red flag for disease trackers.
"The situation of Lowell and Lawrence should be more alarming than it is," said Sciortino. "This addiction is not a simple path.It is a lifelong commitment to treatment."
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